What does the P mean in P-38?
What does the P mean in P-38?
Although “Opener, Can, Hand, Folding” is its official Army nomenclature, it soon acquired the popular name P-38. Historians disagree as to which of three theories explains the moniker. One is that soldiers called it the P-38 because it could open a can faster than the P-38 Lightning fighter plane could fly.
What was the P-38 Lightning used for?
P-38, also called Lightning, fighter and fighter-bomber employed by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. A large and powerful aircraft, it served as a bomber escort, a tactical bomber, and a photo-reconnaissance platform.
What did the Germans call the P-38 Lightning?
fork-tailed devil
Developed for the United States Army Air Corps, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. Allied propaganda claimed it had been nicknamed the fork-tailed devil (German: der Gabelschwanz-Teufel) by the Luftwaffe and “two planes, one pilot” by the Japanese.
What was the range of a P-38 Lightning?
2,100 km
Lockheed P-38 Lightning/Range
What did the Lockheed P-38 Lightning look like?
The P-38 Lightning was an unusual-looking aircraft. Unlike most fighter planes of the Second World War, it had two booms, each with an engine, so that it looked almost like two planes bolted together. This unusual configuration created one of the most successful aircraft of the war and provided a great start to Lockheed’s work in military aviation.
Why did the British cancel the P-38 Lightning?
The cockpit was poorly temperature-regulated—freezing at high altitude, excessively hot in tropical climates. These flaws led the British Royal Air Force to cancel its Lightning order—only for it to be subsequently picked up by America after the Pearl Harbor attack.
Why was the P-38 Lightning called the fork tailed devil?
3) The P-38 was nicknamed the ‘fork-tailed devil’ by the German Luftwaffe and ‘two planes, one pilot’ by Japanese fighter pilots. 4) The P-38 was exceptionally quiet for a fighter, due to its exhaust being muffled by turbo-superchargers. 5) The aircraft used nose-mounted guns, unlike most other US fighters.
What was the target of the P-38 bomber?
True to its name, the P-38 was akin to a force of nature: fast, unforeseen, and immensely powerful. The aircraft’s target, was a German Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor patrol bomber.